Subcommittee looks at public election money

Candidates would have to forgo private fundraising to qualify.

Feb. 5, 2013

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A Senate panel considered but took no action Tuesday morning on a bill creating a public financing system for Iowa elections.

The three-member subcommittee of the Senate State Government Committee explored the details and implications of Senate Study Bill 1072, which would create a voluntary system in which candidates for state office could finance their campaigns with state dollars if they agreed to forgo private fundraising.

Senate President Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, called the bill an important step toward removing the influence of money from politics and making politicians more accountable to their constituents.

“We want to at least start the discussion on whether or not there is a way to finance political campaigns other than just private funds,” Jochum said.

The measure won support from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the League of Women Voters and others.

“The proliferation of corporate funding and third-party donors in our electoral system has really moved elected officials away from their citizens and their constituents and more toward their donors,” League of Women Voters lobbyist Amy Campbell told Jochum. “We think your bill restores that balance.”

Under the public financing program, candidates would raise “seed money” and gather signatures from a certain number of supporters in order to become eligible for state dollars.

The number of signatures and donations raised would vary based on the office sought — a candidate for governor, for example, would have to raise money and collect signatures from 500 voters from across the state, while a House candidate would be required to win signatures and donations from 100 voters in his or her district.

Once those qualifications were met, the candidate would be eligible for public funding. The amount a candidate could receive would vary by office sought, ranging from $3 million for candidates for governor and lieutenant governor in the general election to $30,000 for general-election House candidates.

Candidates who opted out of the public financing system would face limits on contributions not currently found in law. And if a candidate who accepted public financing faced an opponent who did not, the publicly financed candidate could be eligible for additional funds.

Currently, the state has no public financing component for its elections and places no restrictions on the amount of donations that can be given by individuals.

The system would be financed by general fund appropriations from the state as well as a tax checkoff, tax deductions and, possibly, unclaimed property.

The hearing adjourned without action taken to advance the bill. At least one lobbyist present, Marty Ryan, who represents a consortium of social justice groups, said he would offer several suggestions for changes to the bill.

Jochum said the panel would meet again, but did not set a date for a subsequent meeting.

How such a proposal would fare in the Republican-controlled House is unclear.

A spokeswoman for the Republican majority noted that House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, and Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, have not supported public financing in the past.